


Smile, my dear

by DestinedAtMidnight



Category: Midnight Cinderella (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Romance, Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, F/M, I don't know if it's graphic but people do die here, Minor Character Death, Other people die but they're not central to the story, Sad and Sweet, Stein, Violence, War, Wysteria, detailed death, okay i lied it's pretty graphic...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 17:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14454516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinedAtMidnight/pseuds/DestinedAtMidnight
Summary: Knowledge of their love was probably Wysteria's worse-kept secret. Despite the growing tension between Stein and Wysteria, Alyn and Manaka find each other in the most unlikely of times, but it isn't meant to last





	Smile, my dear

The knowledge of their love was probably Wysteria’s worst kept secret.

It started just over three months ago, when the kindling news of a potential war between Stein and Wysteria became a more realistic fear for the people, the years-long tension between the two countries finally reaching the brink. For the first time in history, the palace’s royal knights were deployed into the country’s streets to help keep the peace amongst the citizens but mostly to make sure than no Steinians had entered the country secretly to collect information.

It was then that they met. She was woman running the local bakery with only two employees under her, Manaka Ito. He was the captain of the royal Wysterian knights, Alyn Crawford.

Being the avid chef he was, it was only natural for him to ‘conveniently’ be posted outside this bakery. It was a small one and not very well known, but Alyn guaranteed that this very independence would mean much better quality goods than the bigger bakeries. And he was right.

After the lunch rush had passed, and he managed to break off a fight between two drunk males, he stepped into the patisserie for something to eat. He tried not to pay too much attention to the girl that took him to his seat, wrote his order, made his pastry behind the counter, but he failed miserably.

His eyed followed her bright aura around the shop as two younger boys swept and cleaned around him. “Here’s your pastry, sir,” she spoke softly, but he couldn’t find it in him to look up at her when she did.

And that’s exactly how it continued for the next few days. He would go order a different pastry every time, and she would always make them perfectly. He never looked at her when he was inside. No, instead, he would gaze at her through the doorway of the shop, catching himself taking note of every little thing she did...

It wasn’t until some days later, when Alyn was busy surveying the busy crowd, that he heard a sudden cry erupt from within the bakery. Without giving himself a chance to process what was happening, he was already inside and greeted by a sight that made his blood boil.

Another drunk, he couldn’t believe it, it seemed to be the only think these men could do in the face of a prospective war; drink. Currently, the man had her grabbed by the arm, shouting profanities in her face. Manaka... not caring about how he had somehow learnt her name, he walked right up to the two, roughly grabbing the man by his shirt, dragging the drunkard out of the bakery with a bit more force than he really needed.

“Do you really think, with the state Wysteria is in right now, that we knights want to be dealing with people like you?” The captain spoke down harshly at man. When he did nothing but cower, the knight tutted, making sure to kick up some dirt straight into the man’s face as he turned and walked back inside.

The shop had emptied out while the altercation took place, leaving just the workers behind. “Hey,” Alyn called out to the woman who was crouched on the floor, staring into space.

“Oh-” with an exclamation, she launched onto her feet, “sorry for causing you trouble.” This was the first time he had properly looked at her, and up this close as well.

“Don’t apologise,” he frowned while she groveled, “it’s my duty. I’ll always be here to protect yo- the people.” A red shade appeared on his cheeks as he narrowed his eyes in embarrassment due to he slip-up. Desperately hoping she wouldn’t notice, he was about to turn away when a hand grabbed his arm.

“Thank you, captain, for protecting me.” Again, he marvelled in how soft her voice was, face lax and eyes gentle with a hint of amusement as she conveyed her gratitude to him.

“It’s Alyn,” he replied gruffly, pulling away from her lest she see him blushing even more. Leaving as quickly as he did, he never heard her repeat his name, the word melting in her heart as easily as that day’s cream cheese frosting did in his mouth...

The next day the knight found himself making light talk with the bakery’s owner, Manaka. As the week went on, he found himself spending more time talking to her while he was eating. Although he could never stay long as he had to patrol, she came out to him, standing by his side and speaking to him when there wasn’t much of a crowd.

He found that he very much enjoyed speaking to her, her gentle voice was a pleasant contrast to the loud sounds of the village and the harsh environment of the palace. She was peaceful, a source of comfort for his aching mind and body.

Over the course of the three months, the bakery’s reputation increased dramatically, which meant more customers, which meant more people saw the two of them speaking to each other. The nosier old women even managed to notice the fact that Alyn would stay at the bakery until the early hours of the morning ;) It wasn’t long before Giles pulled the knight into his office late one night, a slight frown on his face.

“I’ll get straight to it, is it true you’re seeing that girl from the bakery?” Alyn nodded, no point in hiding it since everyone in town was talking about it. And knowing Giles, he probably had someone look into as well, just in case. “Well, I only have one question. Will is distract you?” Giles’ eyes were clear and focused as he stared at the old friend from his childhood.

“No,” Alyn’s answer was immediate. “I would never let anyone take me away from my responsibility to this country.” The knight could not help but feel relief. Since this was only thing the chamberlain wanted to know, it was proof that Manaka really was as trustworthy as he had thought, since nothing was brought up.

“Very well, then I shall leave you to it. Heaven knows we could all use some happiness right now...” With a tight smile, Giles returned to his mountain of paperwork.

That was the one thing that Alyn hated the most about this unnecessary tension between the two countries. The people had lost all of their warmth. Compassion was slim, and genuine smiles were even rarer. To an outsider, it would have looked at if the country was running just like it always was. Needless to say, that was not the case.

Even Manaka didn’t smile anymore. But she still had warmth inside her heart. It was a warmth that she could only convey in her delicacies, nowhere anywhere else.

“I don’t want to smile as if everything’s okay like everyone else is doing,” she once said when they were laying in bed together. “I’d much rather not smile at all, than smile for no reason other than to fool myself.” Alyn couldn’t lie, when he heard her quiet whispers, his mind was plagued by fear. Hugging her tightly, he could only wish that she didn’t turn out like the rest of the citizens had; empty.

Their steady but tender romance continued, and as more time passed, it really did seem as if everything would be okay. It wasn’t until a month later that the news Manaka wanted to hear the least of all reached her ears.

It was late at night, and she was drifting off to sleep when the sound of someone running up her stairs bought her to full attention. A quick rap on the door, followed by a familiar voice, quelled her fears.

“Yes, come in,” she called out to the other side and the door opened to reveal Alyn, panting and clad in full armour. Eyes wide, she got up and walked up to him, “what’s happened?” She demanded, knowing that it wasn’t good news.

Releasing a long sigh, he pulled her into his arms. “I can’t say much, but we’ve received information from someone that Stein are planning a surprise attack. All knights are going to the boarder, hopefully we can figure out what their problem is and solve it before things get ugly.” He explained the situation as calmly as possible, not wanting her to realise just how tense he was.

Surprisingly, she was the first to pull away. Nodding her head in resolution, took a step back, opting to hold his hands instead. “I... I understand. But please, take care of yourself.” She wanted to sound strong, someone worthy of standing by a knight’s side, but her voice wavered ever so slightly towards the end.

Pain slashed though his heart, he couldn’t handle seeing her so visibly upset. So he did the only thing he could think of and leaned down to join his lips to hers. Hands locked tightly together, lips locked harshly in passion, the two of them let their mouths show their longing rather than speak it.

“I won’t see you for a while, but this will be solved soon,” he whispered encouragingly. “It’s just a misunderstanding, I’ll be back soon.”

The next morning, Manaka woke up early as usual, despite her restless night, in order to buy some ingredients. It was always quiet at that time, with only a few people on morning walks here and there. The only thing different that day was the very obvious lack of knights patrolling the street. That’s right, she thought, they’re all at the border.

The sudden sound of running footsteps behind her made her furrow her brow, but before she could even turn around, a loud thud followed by excruciating pain flashed through her head. There was only darkness left behind...

At the boarder, the atmosphere was tense. Alyn Crawford and Albert Burckhardt stood at the centre, each merely a foot away from where the boundary line would be. The silence was broken by the sound of crunching leaves. As Alyn diverted his gaze to behind Stein’s knight he saw a pink haired man bounding up to the royal adviser. Without so much as glancing at the Wysterian knight, he leaned up to whisper in the glasses wearer’s ear.

As the boy spoke, a sinister smile appeared on the other Steinian’s face. When the pinknette pulled away, his, too, was twisted in what could be called ‘pleasure.’ And Alyn did not like it one bit.

“It looks like Nico has something that may be of interest to you, Sir Alyn,” the man sneered before turning to wave at the people behind him. The Wysterian knight kept his gaze locked firmly on the men in front of him, refusing to look at what they were bringing until it was right in his face.

A chocked gasp almost escaped his throat as his eyes widened impossibly. People, dressed in simple cloth, ragged and bruised, were pushed to their knees. Tears were streaming down their face, mud all over their skin.

Eight more bodies were bought and thrown at the captain’s feet, however they made no sound as they made harsh contact with the ground. Dead. Anyone could tell that they was no life left in them.

“We took twenty of your people. Since you were foolish enough to remove all of your knights from the town it was easy,” Nico giggled lightly, but it sounded manic. “And every single time Wysteria rejected our conditions for ‘peace,’ we, well actually I, killed one.”

“However-” Albert pushed his glasses up his nose “-being as stubborn as you people are, we realised that we would very quickly run out of hostages, so we decided to tell you about them so that your country make take ours more seriously.” The man drew something out of the inside of his coat and presented it to Alyn. “here are our new terms, Stein hopes that you will consider them a little more seriously than those of the past, otherwise the rest of these ten civilians will end up with their faces in the dirt as well.”

“Ten?” One of the knights behind the captain murmured, as there were clearly twelve left.

“Oh, Albert, you miscounted!” The boy exclaimed, seemingly far too excited by a mistake in numbers, “let me fix it for you.” Seconds was all it took for Nico to pull out his sword and slit a clean line across the necks of two Wysterian citizens. Seconds was all that passed as Alyn had to witness his own people get slaughtered like cattle.

Not too long afterwards, the remaining hostages were taken back to Stein’s camp, all crowded together under one tent, the silhouettes of their enemies’ backs visible through the cotton. Manaka was among them, her body still trembling from witnessing the death of two of her fellow Wysterians. Up until then, the hostages were taken out of the tent; they all knew what happened, but they never had to see it happen.

By Manaka’s side was an old woman, they had never met before, but she still spoke to Manaka as if they were familiar with one another. “Everything will be okay,” her voice was rough with age but still held the gentle tone of someone who never let themselves become overridden by negativity. “Please, don’t let this break you, we will be saved.”

Manaka, as well as the others, could only stare at her in wonder. Their current condition did not call for such optimism, yet she still managed to channel it. “Don’t lose your smiles,” she whispered, the weight of the word seeming to take up whatever space there was left in the enclosed space, draping everyone in a heavy silence. The situation was just too grim for anyone to take in the gravity of her words.

Back at the palace, Alyn had finished reporting the complete situation to the princess and Giles.

“There’s no way that we can accept these conditions. They’re getting more ridiculous every single time.” Giles spoke exasperatedly, brow furrowed into a harsh V.

“They’re toying with us,” the princess added, “playing with our people’s lives. Stein knows we cannot, and will not, accept their terms...”

Alyn clenched his fist as he heard them speak, “what about the hostages?” He demanded.

They both looked up with sad eyes, but those same eyes had a harshness in them that the knight had become all too familiar with. The words that came next didn’t even surprise him. “We’re sorry Alyn, but we can’t give the country over like this just for a few hostages.”

“Everyone has lost their humanity. People dont care about each other anymore,” the captain spoke to his knights later on that day. “None of you are required to follow me, in all honesty, it would be better if you didn’t. But some of our people are out there and they need us, I’m planning to get them out tonight.”

Deep into the night, as the full moon shone down on the trees, Sir Alyn and a fairly large-sized group of knights strode into the country of Stein, heading straight for their campsite.

Knights were posted here and there around the site, the group managed to silence and tie up every single one without problem. Luckily, most the them had returned to Stein after the day’s event, only the captain and a chosen few were left behind.

Once the light of the campfire was in sight, the cluster of Wysterian knights dispersed, each assigned their own role in either disarming or immobilising the enemy, or aiding with the freeing of the hostages.

The reds moved quickly on the forest floor, they had the element of surprise on their side after all. Taking each individual down, they only had a few moments before the rest of the men who were sleeping deeper into the forest came after them.

It was at this point that Alyn went to help those who were getting the kidnappees. Five of them had already been sent safely back to the other side of the boarder. Pushing himself into the tent, he was helping the sixth one out when his eye landed on her.

“Manaka!” He exclaimed, brain momentarily freezing at the unexpected sight before him. Next to her was an old woman who also looked up when she heard his voice. Making eye contact, the kindly lady smiled a true smile. Warmth filled his body as he stared. “Thank you, I knew you would come for us,” She spoke with compassion and Manaka, who was by her side, bit her lip and nodded along with her.

“Sir we need to retreat!”

The moment was broken by the cry of his comrade. “Back-up Steinians are coming towards us, the rest of the knights are on their way we need to go now!”

All of a sudden, his lover was taken out of his view as the knight pulled his captain away the tent. Frustration marred his features as Alyn forced himself to turn around, sixth hostage in hand, as he ran away from the campsite.

Knights dressed in deep brown sneered as they watched the red become one with the black. Returning to the tent, the royal adviser and his accomplice found that only four civilians were left.

“No!” Nico growled when he saw the sight, immediately drawing his sword and stabbing the closest person to him. In rage, the edge of his blade made swift contact with the next man, before Albert Burckhardt stopped him.

“We can still use them, idiot,” the older man hissed, gazing at the two women left behind. One corner of his mouth as he walked towards them, grabbing the younger one harshly by the arm. “Especially-” he breathed right in her face “-this one.”

Without wasting another second, he dragged Manaka out of the tent, walking out into the open. Manaka could hear scuffling behind them before Nico called out, “what about this one?”

Turning around she saw Nico roughly handling the elderly woman who had kept Manaka company these past couple of days. She was frail and definitely couldn’t move as fast as the younger male was pushing her.

Albert watched with uninterested eyes. Reaching up, he readjusted his glasses before saying, “kill her,” in a monotonous, frosty voice. Manaka struggled against her captor’s hold, screaming out in frustration at his mechanical words.

“No! Don’t touch her! Don- Leave her alone!”

The more she struggled, the harder the grip on her arms became and the wider the grin on Nico’s face got. The boy chuckled coldly, taking his sword into his hands, moving slowly and enjoying the moment.

The old woman merely stood there, her eyelids were hooded as she stared at the havoc taking place in front of her. Rather than fight back or plead for her life, she turned to the lovely young girl that she had stayed beside in the tent, and called her name.

“Manaka,” despite the serenity that her voice always depicted, it rung loudly over the clearing, stopping Manaka’s futile protests in an instant. Gently, the old woman turned her lips up, as Nico gracefully turned the sword in the air. Her expression twinkled in the moonlight, the blade glimmering with the stars. Her upturned lips opened when she said, “smile, my dear,” as the sword opened up a hole right in the centre of her chest.

Further into the forest, Manaka’s wretched screams echoed around the huddled-up knights. Alyn face contorted with pain and fury Manaka...! He couldn’t take it, now that the freed hostages were travelling deeper into Wysteria with a convoy of knights, he was assured of their safety. But not hers, she was still there.

Getting to his feet, he surveyed his team. The freed citizens being the priority, all the healthy knights had been sent with them so only the injured were left. In his state, he didn’t care, he wanted to save Manaka himself, this is personal, he told himself, no one else needs to get involved.

“Sir, are you going to get her too?” The knight who had been with him the tent looked up and asked. After a moment of contemplation, the captain nodded.

“Yes, stay here, I’ll be back-”

“We’re coming with you,” they interrupted him, those that could stand on their two feet doing so. “Wysterian knights working together, Sir. Let’s go and get her.” Gazing at his men, Alyn Crawford felt his chest swell with pride.

This time they did not bother trying to keep quite, they ran straight for the lit fire. The knights circled round the back while the captain went to the front as a distraction. Once he was in plain sight, he caught sight of the disgusting scene. The old woman was dead, he could tell that even with the distance. But what really got his blood boiling was the fact that Manaka was held tightly in the arms of Albert and Nico and the rest of the knights taunted her, pulling and tearing at her clothes and hair.

Twigs snapping beneath his feet, Alyn made his presence known as he walked up to the group. Nico was the first to notice and when he did he laughed merrily.

“This is your one, isn’t she, captain?” He teased, the whole group oblivious to what was happening behind them. “We’ll take a lot of pleasure in this,” the fire reflected off his eyes, malice shining brightly in the amber.

Meanwhile, Alyn’s troupe had formed a line behind their expecting opponents The first knight walked up to the nearest Stein guard and hit his head with the hilt of the sword. Idiot, Alyn cursed as a ‘thump’ reached his ears, you should have smothered him silently, if the first knock didn’t reach anyone else’s ears, the sound of his limp body falling onto the floor most definitely did.

The rest of the Steinian knights followed their captain, Albert, and the two foes all paired-off to engage in their duels. Leaving Alyn behind with Nico, all bright-eyed and contorted smiles.

Tightening his hold on Manaka’s hair, he stared at her lover straight in the eyes. “Say goodbye to your pretty, captain!” A deep cackle escaped from his throat, it was a sound straight from hell.

“No, please,” tears streamed down Manaka’s face, she couldn’t take the pain anymore. “Alyn save me!” Her cries pierced through his heart.

A Wysteria knight made his way to the boy with cotton candy hair and, using all of his training, did what every knight had been taught to do. Nico’s knife pierced her chest as his nape was sliced straight through.

Alyn rushed over to her prone body, gathering her up in his arms. Letting out a rush of air, he noticed that the sword hadn’t gotten too deep into Manaka’s chest, his wild eyes and delirious mind refusing to acknowledge the pool of blood that her body was quickly creating.

By this time, the rest of the knights had rejoined their captain. The rivals that they had defeated lay scattered over the forest floor, the living ones doing their best to run since they were now heavily outnumbered.

In that moment, the shock had clearly ruined Alyn, he was shouting incoherent orders at his knights. “Bring some bandages,” and “tell the palace we need a doctor,” were among these instructions. The men all looked at each other is dismay, water pricking their eyes as they watched their rock, their strong captain, crashing so heavily under the weight of her injury.

“Please, Sir Crawford... there’s nothing-”

“Shut up!” Alyn refused to listen to what the other male had to stay, desperately clutching his beloved in his arms, her face against his chest, his heart beating as rapidly as the blood gushing from her wound.

“Just look at her!” The young knight exclaimed water dropping from his cheeks, “look. Just spend whatever time she has left by her side...”

Eyelids flickering, Manaka looked up with unfocused eyes, “... Alyn?” She croaked.

“Manaka?!” He could barely get the word out, his throat clenching painfully around it. All he could do was gasp brokenly as a her lips turned up, finally forming the smile she thought she had forgotten to how make.

“Please... Smile, my dear-”

And the captain of the royal Wysterian knights watched. He watched with burning eyes as the life drained out of her expression, he watched as her body went limp in his arms, he watched the clouds in the sky roll by as his screams echoed through the forest.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for all of that angst and death guys, if you did read it I hope you liked it? Let me know what you thought regardless ^^
> 
> \- Widzz
> 
> (All characters belong to Cybird, I do not owe them. This is for entertainment purposes only.)


End file.
